• March 5, 2006
  • 16 minutes read

Syria: An Open Letter to the 4th General Conference of Arab Political Parties

Syria: An Open Letter to the 4th General Conference of Arab Political Parties

An Open Letter Submitted by Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood to the Fourth General Conference of Arab Political Partiesto be held in Damascus from 4 to 6 March 2006

 

Distinguished participants at the fourth session of the general conference of Arab political parties , Assalamu Alaikum (peace be upon you) We welcome you to Syria, your blessed motherland, and thank you for your interest in the issues of our Umma (Arab-Islamic community) and for your concern to feel the pains and wounds of its countries. We believe that you, as the representatives of the forward elite of this Umma, have the right to be given by us a summary of the state of affairs and the dimensions of the suffering of your brothers, the children of the Syrian people, in the midst of whom are holding your conference. You also have the right to be informed about the real attitude of the national forces of that people, which are squeezed between two evils: either to yield to despotism or to capitulate. The Syrian people combats both evil options with an unabated determination.

Gentlemen,

We do not think that anyone on the Arab scene doubts the gravity of the current stage through which our Umma in general and our country in particular goes. No one ignores the destructive repercussions of foreign schemes which target our beliefs, our will, our identity and the human person himself.

Furthermore, we don’t think that you, gentlemen, differ with us as to the fact that in order to prove that the slogans of steadfastness are true, then serious and urgent action is required to get rid of all kinds of fraternal feuds, to rise above the petty quarrels -be they profession-wise or party-wise- to release energies of all forces of the society in one direction and to mobilize them all in the battle of the Umma.

Out of our belief in those facts, which is dictated by our Islamic vision and jurisprudence, once foreign threats have loomed on the horizon, we have gone beyond our plight- however stressful it is- and our wounds- however deep they are- and declared our readiness to stop all sorts of fraternal conflict and put forth our positive national attitude, based on national unity and a gradual reform project that encompasses all parties together.

 

We have first concentrated on the question of basic human rights and then on the political prospects that could restore to the Syrian people their participation in building their country at present and in the future and their role in defending their homeland.

But this discourse, which was agreed to by all national forces by consensus, has fallen on deaf ears as far as the people in authority are concerned. They received it not only with disaffection and objection, but also with persistence in their pursuing their arbitrary and unjust policies and in encroaching on human rights.

Gentlemen,

We do not think that you believe that maintaining article 8 of the Syrian Constitution, which consecrates the hegemony of one political party on the State and society, or maintaining Law No. 49 for 1980 which imposes the death penalty for the mere suspicion of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood, will support Syria’s steadfastness, strengthen unity among its citizens or mobilize their energies for its true battle. It is to be recalled that above-mentioned Law No. 49 was applied retroactively to thousands of members of our Brotherhood and is still valid till the present day.)

Gentlemen,

We do not think that you believe that nipping in the bud the Prague-like Spring of Damascus, closing political and intellectual forums, confiscating public freedoms, or imprisonment of reformists such as Dr. Aref Daleela and his colleagues in the Damascus Spring, who -like all other national opposition forces- have always refused to seek support from abroad, will support Syria’s steadfastness or give credibility to those who want to manipulate national decisive causes to serve their own petty causes.

Gentlemen,

We do not think that while you are meeting in Damascus you are unaware of the state of emergency that has been in force in this afflicted country for forty years. The state of emergency has tied the hands of any Syrian citizen, paralyses his capabilities and undermined much of his ability to perform and innovate, deepened the occupation of the Golan Heights and eliminated from the public life any political, social, intellectual or cultural open-up.

Syria, which loves you and which is loved by you, has been living for more than forty years without true political parties or trade-union institutions. Since the trade unions were dissolved by virtue of martial law in 1980, the existing trade unions are subjected to the security tutelage. Syria which you see today is a country without a public opinion, without a political opposition, without free press, without true media since the existing media serve only as a mouthpiece for the voices of those in government.

Gentlemen, dear brothers,

You are aware of the fact that some 20,000 people have been in detention and the news of most of them has been cut off from their families since a quarter of a century. They have tens of thousands of mothers, fathers, wives, brothers and sisters living their ordeal. In addition, there are still other tens of thousands of displaced people spread over three successive generations. We do not think that you believe that keeping this file unresolved could serve the cause of steadfastness or give credibility to those who claim to be its champions. We do not think that you expect mothers, wives, fathers and children, who have been waiting for the return of their loved ones for more than a quarter of a century, to intone the praises of those who have caused the disappearance of their beloved family members under false slogans of “steadfastness and resistance”.

Gentlemen,

We, in the Muslim Brotherhood and in all honest opposition forces, brought together under the Damascus Declaration, stand side by side with you in calling for the steadfastness of Syria and for the mobilization of all energies to confront the suspicious foreign schemes. We think that you also stand side by side with us in condemning all foreign deals which are sought by those who want to appease foreign powers by offering concession after concession for the sake of gaining an ephemeral gain or strengthening an authority that finds its glory only in humiliating its people and abusing their rights.

Gentlemen, dear brothers,

You are welcome in the midst of your relatives and people. We wish to remind you that homelands are not defended by despots and we hope and pray that your efforts would support Syria as a people and a country, support the detainees, displaced people and the oppressed and those who refuse all schemes of dependence and capitulation.

In the Muslim Brotherhood, we have always been and we shall continue to be the faithful representative of the scheme that serves our Umma and we shall defend it however stressful the plight and sacrifices may be. We extended our positive hand of cooperation to all the people of our country through the national honor charter that we issued on 3 May 2001, followed by our political program of 16 December 2004. We joined the ranks of national forces under the banner of Damascus Declaration of 16 December 2005 in order to confirm that the national battle is the battle of everyone.

In the light of our integration with the national collectivity of our people, our demands which we consider as a prelude to a new stage in our national action are as follows:

§ To cancel the state of emergency and put an end to the martial law that has been in force in our country since 1963;

§ To release all political detainees;

§ To determine the fate of the thousands of missing people;

§ To allow the return of the tens of thousands of displaced and deported people; and

§ To cancel Law No. 49 for 1980, which imposes the death penalty for the mere suspicion of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood?

Gentlemen, dear brothers,

In the free Syrian opposition and in the Muslim Brotherhood, we have our national program for change, which is close to the pulse of our homeland and to its major causes. This program is the true defender of the present and the future and the banner-bearer that reflects the general Umma scheme in the particular national scheme.